1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to waste disposal systems and, more particularly, to a sewerless disposal system which reclaims "grey" water and which incinerates solid wastes, and recycles "black" water for toilet purposes, returning to the environment reclaimed water of quality equal to tertiary treatment and hence forth called tertiary quality water, ash, CO.sub.2, and if not condensed, water vapor.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the past, a necessary concomitant of human activity has been the disposal of the various waste products generated. While this generally includes the disposal of rubbish, trash, and the like, it also includes the disposal or other disposition of waste matter which normally requires a sewage system. In the past, sewerage systems have either been of a public or community type in which a series of pipe lines interconnect the waste disposal systems of all buildings in a community with a sewage treatment plant that is designed to dispose of the treated effluent. Depending upon the location of the community, generally the sewage is treated to neutralize any disease causing potential and to remove noxious or offensive materials and odors.
Other, more sophisticated sewage treatment plants may actually further treat the solid wastes and return them to the economy as fertilizer or other byproducts, and the treated water component is either discharged into a convenient waterway or is permitted to percolate into the surrounding ground. Most recently, plans have been formulated to utilize reclaimed water for watering parks, golf courses, and to provide ponds or lakes and for other recreational purposes.
In the absence of community sewer systems, dwellings have included private sewage disposal facilities, such as cesspools and septic tanks which accumulate the wastes and permit the fluid components thereof to discharge into earth through a drainage field, while the solid components are decomposed by natural means. Yet other sewage disposal facilities are no more sophisticated than a direct pipe into a nearby body of water, with no treatment of the sewage attempted.
In recent years, a great deal of attention has been directed to the environment and to the protection and preservation of the environment, as a natural resource, with emphasis upon environmental pollution, of which sewage disposal can be a major cause. Not only must the aesthetic problems of waste management be considered, but consideration must be given to what the effect of large quantities of organic and chemical waste products, which tend to unbalance the natural systems and, for example, cause eutrophication of lakes and other bodies of water, can ultimately have on the environment.
Another consideration in dealing with the preservation of the natural resources is the profligate exploitation of the water resource in connection with the human habitation. Vast quantities of water are consumed in a typical household, only a fraction of which is utilized for food or cooking. Most of the water is employed for laundry purposes, washing, baths or showers, and in the disposal of human wastes.
Great quantities of water are also utilized for other domestic tasks, such as watering lawns or gardens, washing cars, and the like. In fairly arid areas, water is used for evaporative cooling systems during hot weather.
In dealing with the problem of waste management, two categories have been established. A first, known as "grey water," includes probably the major portion of the water utilized in human activities. The "grey" water would include all of the waste currently handled by sewer systems excepting only the toilet waste product.
The toilet wastes are considered "black" water and include the human excrement which must be ultimately disposed of. This includes the large quantities of water which are generally required in toilets to dispose of a relatively small quantity of human waste. In most sewage systems, the grey water and black water effluents are indiscriminately mixed within the sewer and are ultimately applied to the same treatment facility.
It has been found through careful study that the present systems of managing wastes are, among other things, extremely wasteful of the water resource that comprises the major portion of the wastes that must be treated. Further, it has been observed that most systems that are intended to dispose of human wastes tend to be classified in two categories. The first category is the "dry" toilet which utilizes little or no water for flushing purposes and relies upon either electric or flame incineration to dispose of human wastes. Alternatively, conventional flushing type toilet systems can be provided, which include a quantity of water with the wastes which must be disposed of with the waste material, although in some embodiments of the solid phase is accomplished through incineration.
There have been efforts in the prior art to provide waste systems that avoided the conventional private or public sewage systems. A partial solution was suggested in the patent to M. J. Breen, U.S. Pat. No. 3,005,205, issued Oct. 24, 1961 which taught a unitary washroom assembly which included, in a single prefabricated unit, a washroom and/or toilet with common connections to a single collecting tank which in fact functions as a septic tank. The septic tank however, in conventional fashion, must drain into a drainage field and no attempt is made to reclaim any of the liquid and the septic tanks, in conventional fashion, provides an discharge into a drainage field.
More recently, a household water conservation system was described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,543,294 issued to Carl F. Boester on Nov. 24, 1970. This patent teaches the filtration and aeration of household waste water other than toilet waste.
The water thus treated serves as the source of flushing water in conventional toilet systems. If the water exceeds a predetermined volume, it is discharged into a conventional drainage field. The waste from the conventional toilet is applied to a similar storage system and subjected to aerobic processes. The liquid effluent, after treatment is discharged into the drainage field as well.
It is clear that the Boester system requires two water storage systems, one of which might be considered as a grey water system and the other a black water storage system. The water recovered from the grey water system is used for flushing toilets and the black water system is treated the conventional way and discharged into a drainage field.
In recent years, a third type of flushing toilet system has been developed which is a self-contained, recirculating toilet system. A typical system of the third type has been disclosed in the patents to J. W. Dietz, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,067,433; R. F. Corliss, U.S. Pat. No. 3,079,612; or to N. J. Palmer, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,473,171 and 3,537,590. Such toilet systems reduce the demand for water in their operation and effectively concentrate the waste products for more convenient disposal.
In order to provide a substantially sewerless community or a sewerless house, it has been discovered that a combination of a "grey" water recovery system and a novel "black" water waste incinerator can be efficiently utilized. However, because of the quantities of energy required to "incinerate" the water component of any "black" water system, it has been determined that some means should be provided to concentrate and separate the human wastes from the other household waste products.
In recent years, the recirculating toilet systems, mentioned above, have achieved great success and popularity in vehicles, such as boats, aircraft, and campers and trailers. Further, other embodiments of such recirculating toilet systems have been utilized in remote locations where permanent sewer connections are not available.
These recirculating toilet systems operate on a basic charge of six gallons of liquid and can operate for approximately 80 to 90 utilizations on a single charge. If one or more of these recirculating toilet systems were employed in a household, depending upon the number of occupants and the frequency with which the toilets are utilized, these units would require emptying and refilling approximately twice per month.
To assist in the emptying of these recirculating toilet systems when installed in vehicles, such as boats, aircraft, campers, and trailers, macerator-grinder pumps have been developed. One such pump has been disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,380,673.
These macerator-grinder pumps tend to convert the stored waste products and liquid into a finely divided slurry which is capable of being pumped to an appropriate disposal or receptacle. In the past, such a waste slurry was disposed of in a regular sewer system.